Return of the Crazy Neighbor Man
by Benji The Vampire Confuser
Summary: Third Season. A dark chapter of Xander's past comes back to haunt him.
1. Chapter 1

**Return of the Crazy Neighbor Man**

**Part of the Omniverse Project**

**by Benji: The Vampire Confuser**

_Based on characters and situations created by Joss Whedon and Jhonen Vasquez._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Xander woke up on his eighteenth birthday, not feeling especially celebratory. He couldn't quite place why, but he felt rather depressed. All day, he was in a deep funk, wishing something would happen to break it. But neither Willow nor Buffy had been able to cheer him. Then it came to a head. Harmony called him Squee.

His eyes squeezed shut, as he was bombarded by memories he'd worked hard to banish. "How did she know about that nick name?" he wondered.

"Willow," Buffy asked. "What's the deal with that?"

"Squee was Xander's nick name when he was little." Willow whispered. "It had something to do with the noise he made when he was scared." She saw that Buffy was about to be amused. "It was a _really_ bad time of his life."

"Oh." Buffy quickly squelched her amusement, and saw how badly Xander had been effected by the name. Her heart went out to her friend, and she wondered just what had happened.

* * *

Xander arrived home after school, in unusually low spirits. He wondered if anyone had noticed that he hadn't spoken that entire day, and wished he could be happy about it being his birthday. Probably he would have, had Harmony not brought up the whole Squee thing.

Every insecurity, every fear, every bad thing that had ever happened to him was wrapped in that name. He sighed and reminded himself that those days were over. He wasn't Squee anymore. He was Xander. Sidekick to the slayer.

Then he opened the door to his bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hiya Squee!" Johnny said, sitting on his bed.

Xander could only stare, and when he was finally able to vocalize what he was feeling at that moment, he did something that he hadn't done in years. He squeaked.

* * *

**Sunnydale, Some Years Ago**

"Psst, Hey Squeegee! Wake up! It's me!"

Little Xander Harris hadn't actually been asleep. He didn't sleep much in those days. Too scared. When he looked up, surely enough, it was the crazy neighbor man.

"Hello," the man said. "I used my basement tunnel to get here. Neat huh? Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye before leaving."

"Are you, moving away?" Squee asked hopefully.

"Oh no, don't worry." Johnny reassured him. "I'm just going on a bit of a holiday. But you'll be on your own for a while. I won't be here to help you like I used to. It's a frightening world to be alone in."

"Hey s-son!" a drunken voice from without called. "What's going on in there?"

"It's your dad." Johnny said. "I'll hide under your bed till he goes away." As he was sliding under, he looked up at Squee with mischief in his eyes. "Wouldn't it be funny if I shoved a knife through the mattress? Hee."

"Who are you talking to?" Mr. Harris asked, entering the room. "One of your imaginary friends? Like the voice in you teddy bear or the scary neighbor man?

"I know you think we're not paying enough attention to you," his father began. "And, there's a good reason for that. Y'see son, I resent your existence. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. No wait, it's true! I really despise my life, and you're a major factor in that. Whew! It feels good to have this talk with you.

"Do you know what it's like to be trapped in a life you never planned on having? I can't believe I have this shitty job, and it's even more unbelievable that I have a kid! It's like having a room mate you just can't kick out!

"You know, I had other plans for my life. This is nothing like how my life should have been. You shouldn't be here, I shouldn't live here, and you mother sure as hell wouldn't be doing all the shit she does.

"Little kid, I'm sorry nobody loves you, but just think about how miserable I am, and how much of that is your fault. I mean-"

WAK!

Mr. Harris fell to the floor with a thud, blood trickling from where Johnny had hit him in the head with a toy robot.

"Sorry about that." Johnny apologized. "But he didn't sound like he'd be shutting up anytime soon, and I've no time to wait.

"Oh don't worry about him." He said, indicating the prone figure of Squee's father. "He'll be up in a while. He might be permanently blind though. Oh well that should make it easier to get away with stuff. Of course, being blind, he might develop a keen sense of hearing. That might not be good. You know if you'd like I could do something to his ears. Have you got a lick-em-aid stick? Oh but then he'll just fine tune his sensitivity to vibrations. Mmmm, we'd have to do some work on his central nervous system. I'll need some tweezers and shoelaces. Pooh, but what if he becomes some kind of olfactory ninja? This is very awkward, I mean, we can't kill him. A kid needs a dad.

"But I digress. Hmm, you don't have any video games. That's very sad. Very very sad. I like monkeys."

"So um," Squee finally spoke up. "Are you gonna chop me up and throw me in the garbage now? Because Shmee tells me you're a bad guy. He says this is a bad place to be. Please don't chop me up."

"Okee dokee." Johnny said agreeably. He sat on Squee's bed. "Look Squee, I just want to make sure you'll watch out for yourself. I mean that unconscious man is just one of your worries. I'm just concerned.

"It's so easy to be affected by your fears. Your hatred. I don't want to see that happen to you. You seem like such a nice little Squee. It must be nice to still have the opportunity to save the cohesion of your pretty mind. The best some people can do is better manage their damage.

"Well, I'll be on my way now. There's still a few things left to do before I go. I'll be going out the window. The underground tunnel has gotten a bit thick with corpses. Good luck Squee. Sleep tight."

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Good golly gosh shitfuck!" Johnny beamed at Xander. "Look at you! I remember back when you were just a little burrito."

"You," Xander stammered. "You, you can't be here. You're not- you're not real!"

"You thought that too?" Johnny sighed thoughtfully. "Cause there was a stretch there where I was pretty sure I wasn't real either."

"What are you doing here?" Xander demanded, edging towards the closet where he kept...that ax that he could now see lying on his bed, where it had previously been hidden by Nny's body.

Johnny saw what Xander was looking at and sighed. "Now Squee, I hope you're not picking any bad habits. Keeping an ax in the closet? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"They call me Xander now. And it's in the closet in case of monsters."

"Oh, well that's all right then. Provided you mean the kind of monsters that go bump in the night and not the human kind." Picking the blade up with a flourish, he looked for a moment, as if he was about to attack Xander with it, but he merely held it out, handle first. "Just be careful with it. It's very sharp."

"Uh, right." Xander said, taking the ax.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I was back in town. I have to go look for a place to stay now, but I'll be keeping an eye out for you. Tootles!"

The tall, skinny guy slipped out the window, and Xander rushed forward to lock it, only to find that the lock was broken. "Oh, swell."

"Oh!" Johnny's face appeared in the window suddenly, making Xander shout, and jump back. "Almost forgot...you ever notice how when someone says they almost forgot, what they actually mean is, they _did_ forget, but remembered in time to do something about it? Anyway, I almost forgot, the secret tunnel's been filled in so I had to break the lock. Sorry about that. You should probably get that fixed." He favored the boy with his trademark chilling grin. "There's all sorts of monsters that could get in otherwise."

* * *

"So, what's next?" Mayor Richard Wilkins asked Allan, his deputy Mayor.

"Uh, well sir," Mr. Finch said. "It appears that a Mr. John C. has been spotted in town."

Wilkins almost choked on his food, and had to take a moment to recover himself. "Are you sure it was him?"

"Well no sir I didn't see him myself, but he matches the description."

The Mayor pursed his lips, and chuckled. "Well that's a interesting development. I must say though that troubled young man was a bit of a blessing in disguise really. That was not an easy demon to appease." He rested his hand on the handle of his golf club thoughtfully. "Keep an eye on him." he finally decided. "But the watchword here must be discretion. Mr. C's past exploits tended to be rather messy. Even by Sunnydale standards."

He walked over to his cabinet, and unlocked it. "In the meantime, see if you can't get a bead on any artistic types who match the profile." Hanging in the cabinet, among his other paraphernalia, was a painting of a creepy little girl, with two giant screws for eyes. One of which appeared to be coming unscrewed. "I think our old friend might be making it's way back home."

* * *

Xander spent the first few hours after his unexpected, and unwelcome reunion, finding the proper tools, and then nailing his window shut. He'd fortunately finished before his parents went to bed, so he didn't disturb them.

Then he made a careful search of the basement to make sure that the tunnel was filled up. Considering Johnny's claim when he left, years ago, that the tunnel had been clogged with bodies, he had to spend some time working up the nerve to look.

"I'd have noticed the smell by now right?" he muttered. Then again, given the state of the basement these days, maybe not. He found where he was pretty sure the tunnel was, but sure enough, it seemed to be filled in.

With a sigh of relief he then went up into the attic to search for something else. Something suddenly very important. In an old, dust covered, unmarked cardboard box, he found him.

"Hey Shmee." Xander said, sitting back and holding the ragged old teddy bear before him. He paused, half wondering if the bear would talk back. But whether the voice of his bear was one thing he actually had imagined, or if the magic that let him hear the bear had worn off when he got older, he received no answer.

Shmee had only one ear now, and no nose or eyes. He smelled musty, and neglected. The boy didn't ever remember washing him. Gazing at the stuffed animal, Xander realized that, he didn't remember how he'd gotten it in the first place. And he'd always been rather ragged. Maybe, like many other things in his life, this had been a hand me down. Had Shmee comforted some other child before he'd come to Xander?

The boy once called Squee had convinced himself that most of the terrifying things in his life had not been real. And then one day he'd discovered, in one of the most horrifying ways possible, that some monsters, perhaps even most monsters, were real.

It made him wonder how much in his past had been real. Had he really tricked/convinced aliens to abduct and experiment on his parents, rather than him? Or was it, as they insisted, contagious insanity? Had he really witnessed a fellow child get devoured by a Boston Terrier?

And what about Pepito and his family? In retrospect, he was not surprised they'd moved to Sunnydale. But where were they now? Xander had no idea what'd become of the diminutive anti-christ. Maybe that part had been his imagination, like Shmee.

Actually, Xander hadn't heard Shmee speak since he met Willow.

They'd met on the playground. She'd declared him her boyfriend after he chased Jessie off, who was attacking her with a water gun. The two boys had made up though when Squee had showed right and proper awe at Jessie's Ninja Turtle's toys. Then came the dare to steal Willow's Barbie, and she'd dumped him.

A sad smile crossed Xander's face as he thought about those good times. Both Willow and Jessie had petitioned their parents to adopt him. Hell, his dad had been all for it. Cordelia and Willow had, actually once upon a time been friends. He couldn't picture the modern Willow being interested in Barbies. Jessie's little brother had inherited the action figures when his older sibling had decided he was too old for such things. Only a year before his death.

After Jessie had been turned into a Vampire, and staked by Xander, the Hellmouth Effect had convinced his family that he'd been a victim of gang violence. They'd moved away not long after. He never knew where.

All this work, and nostalgic thoughts kept him up most of the night. So it was a decidedly exhausted Xander "Squee" Harris that entered the library the next day.

"We've got a serious problem." he said.

* * *

Daniel "Oz" Osbourn had been playing the guitar, or, pretending to play the guitar, depending on who was asked, for years. When his family had moved to Sunnydale, he'd quickly made friends in the music community, both in the school band, and in a real band.

If you could call Dingoes Ate My Baby a real band. Some didn't. But he'd gotten to know people around here, their talents, their quirks.

And Micky Keeler was about as quirky as they came. It was possibly because he hung out with the drama club so often, and no one could beat them when it came to weirdness. Even Vampires avoided them because they were so strange.

Micky was often quiet, but quick to smile, and even quicker to laugh. He teased his friends mercilessly, played guitar with skill, and even, though not many knew it, wrote music.

And today he was either asleep, dead, or hungover.

"You alright?" Oz asked him quietly.

"Mar." the boy groaned. "Migraine. Been getting 'em lately, keeping me up. Need blood of virgin to cure them. But this is high school, no virgins."

Oz knew he was kidding. And also knew it was a good thing none of his non-musical friends were here to hear that. "Interesting humor for the Hellmouth."

"That which we laugh at, loses it's power over us."

"Maybe you should go to the nurse."

"That would require moving. And possibly opening my eyes. Both hurt. No I'll just lie here till someone carts me off home or to the morgue. The morgue has refrigerated beds, so I'm hoping for that one."

Oz shrugged. "Okay but it's going to get noisy in here."

Then Micky blinked. "Actually, it's starting to go away. I think I'll live after all. Guess I still have to write that essay for English class."

* * *

Giles was cleaning his glasses. Buffy looked nauseas, and Willow had that look on her face that he remembered from the first time they'd found out Vampires were real. Shell shocked, and terrified. Both she and Buffy had scooted protectively closer to him as he'd told his story. It felt good, that concern, that love. It was something he'd never gotten at home.

"I thought he wasn't real." Willow said in a quiet voice. "Like all the monsters, and stuff that...turned out to be real." She whimpered.

"Giles please tell me there's some kind of demonic explanation for this. Even Jack the Ripper wasn't this messed up."

"W-well, it's not unheard of for demons to exert unhealthy influence over individuals, I might be able to find something. But I think we have to consider the possibility that this man was, and possibly still is, merely completely insane."

"Either way, we have to deal with him." the Slayer said resolutely. "Xander, I want you to stay at my place until we take care of this guy."

"Buffy you know I love your sleepovers, but I don't want to put you in-"

"I'm always in danger. Better it be because I'm protecting my friend from some psychopath. I mean, who knows what this guy's doing right now?"

The bookstore was gone. He didn't suppose he was surprised. He'd been gone for such a long time. Things changed. Stores closed, to be replaced by others. Areas cleared, trees cut down, forests leveled to make way for housing developments. People died, to decay and provide food for plants, and worms.

The Magic Box. Interesting. He wondered if he could buy a hat and get Nail Bunny back. He missed Nail Bunny. Pressing his face up against the window, he looked around inside. What would Devi think of this place?

It looked nice in there. It was open, peaceful looking. He could smell incense, and hear faint strains of soft music. And he didn't see any pretentious Goths in there.

Where was Devi these days? Should he call her? Go by her place? Going by her place might be a mistake. What if she thought he was there to kill her? Maybe he should call ahead. Assure her that wasn't the case. Next to Squee, she was the last person he wanted to kill. Or even maim.

On the other hand, the last time he called her, it hadn't gone too well.

**Sunnydale, Some Years Ago**

"Hello?"

Click. Johnny pushed the play button on the recorder. He wasn't afraid to speak to her, he only knew that in this particular case, improvisation wasn't the way to go, so he'd prepared a little something.

"Hello Devi." Nice start. He'd worked a long time on that.

"Johnny? Johnny it's you isn't it! What do you want? Hello?"

"Don't bother talking. This will only play once, so I hope you'll listen to me. I know how hard this would be in person. It's better this way, eloquence is important here." He'd always treasured his eloquence. Even when his sanity had deserted him, his eloquence hadn't.

"As you may already know, I tried to kill you. I see how that could be construed as a bad thing, but the part that understands that, is not the one running things in my little world."

"You like this girl eh?" The Big Boy on the table guessed.

"Shh." Johnny told him. "I'm trying to hear my sincerity."

"Happiness, and all it's allure, they make no sense here. What's worse is that neither does discontent. In your case, with attraction in general, both feelings come at full force. One being the precursor to the other."

He wondered if she were still listening. If she'd gotten on her cell phone and called the police or something. Now that he'd died, and the demon had escaped, could he be caught? Maybe that would be a good thing.

"Trust me, I intended to annihilate you in the nicest possible sense of the word. At the time that is. See, I want to be different. Thing is, I've excluded happiness as one of those possibilities we seek for ourselves. Oh, I still want it, but that's besides the point. Contentment, they say it's the ultimate but I can't even wish for that. I don't even want the desire to be content. I can only hope for silence."

He felt he needed to clarify that. "No, I'm not talking about suicide. That was psycho-doughboy's thing. Oh I didn't introduce you to him. He was one of my little styrofoam friends. Anyhow..."

Where was he? Ah yes. "I like you immensely Devi. And to prove it, I shall obliterate all my affection and interest for you. Just like before, but different. I cannot hurt what I do not acknowledge. I don't know of anyone that I love, or of anyone that loves me but I give you what I can. I give you my nothing.

"While I still have feeling, I wish to apologize. I know forgiveness is out of the question. I just ask for what we all ask of the people we respect- that the thought of me does not compel you to violent spasms of projectile vomiting."

"Hey!" Devi suddenly shouted, breaking into Johnny's carefully constructed reverie. "Hey! Shut up! Shut that thing off! Pick up the phone, Nny you little shit! I want to tell you what I've been doing these last few months! Do you know what I've been up to?! I've been staying in a lot!

"You know why?! Because with each attempt to meet a nice...person, things get increasingly bad! Last time I tried, you pulled knives on me! I didn't want to try again for fear of something even worse! Hell, I haven't even left this place!"

Well if it was a guilt trip she was going for, she was a bit behind the times. Still she had a good head of steam going, and she made some excellent points.

"You know what's worse than hiding from what scares you? Do you?! I'll tell you- it's having good things pass you by because you're too busy cringing in idiot terror, hiding someplace where all you can do is dwell on shit!

"And now you think your apology is going to make me happy as a drooly little baby?! Shit!! I'm the person who's going to make me happy! I am! No more hiding away. If you want to kill me, just try it! I'll lose my boot down your throat! Hey!! Hello?!! Hey Johnny Pooh!"

Oh, oh dear.

"I don't hear you saying anything! What's wrong?! Not full of fucked up wisdom today?! Speak! Speak you fuck!"

Well, he would have but he'd lost his place on the tape.

Click. "That could have gone better." Johnny thought.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"A sleepover?" Joyce said doubtfully. "Buffy I don't know it's a school night and don't you think you're too old for that sort of thing?" She listened to Buffy's pleading on the other end of the line. Despite herself, Joyce still had to struggle to deny her daughter anything when she used that tone of voice. She had a lot of practice though.

On the other hand, Joyce really liked Xander and Willow. And with Willow there nothing would happen right? She was going to regret this she was sure but...

"Alright Buffy. But don't let this become a habit."

Her business partner smirked at her as she hung up. "What's Buffy up to now?"

Joyce sighed. "She wanted to have her friends Willow and Xander sleep over." she said. "I'm not sure, but I don't think Xander has a very good home life." she added pensively.

"Xander's a boy?" the other woman asked.

"Yes but they'd have a chaperon. Willow's another girl. Besides I think Buffy looks at Xander as if he were a brother. I know she's said she thinks of Willow as a sister." It did her heart good to see that Buffy had such good friends anyway. Times had been hard on both of them.

After her daughter's breakdown, and her own divorce, it had been hard to start over. But then things had started to turn around. She'd found a school that would take Buffy, and she'd found a gallery that was looking for a co-owner/manager. Her new partner in the business was a little strange, but Joyce liked her.

"Well, here's hoping your girl can help him with that. I gotta go, see you tomorrow? I think we can get the rest of this stuff unpacked and ready."

"Of course." Joyce nodded. "I've got a few things left to wrap up. I'll lock up."

Her partner nodded and headed out into the darkening parking lot. A habit of long years, she kept a sharp lookout all around for trouble. Therefore she was not taken completely by surprise when something leaped over her car, to stand between her and her means of transport.

"Well, ain't you pretty." he said, leering. The leer was creepy enough without the fangs and demonic forehead.

She backed up, reaching for her purse. But before she could reach inside, something flew over her shoulder and embedded itself in the Vampire's throat.

"Human beings are monster enough." someone said darkly. "Without parasites like you trying to worm your way in."

A pale, dark haired man sidled past her as the Vampire gagged, pulling the knife out.

"Fucking-" the thing got out before another knife sliced across it's belly, and the man angrily thrust his free hand into it's gut, and yanked out the intestines.

"Swearing, as if you had any right to human speech. Your presence in this meat sack is the worst kind of rape. And I would know."

He suddenly seemed to be aware of, if not the perversity of what he was doing, then the fact that he had an audience.

Johnny looked up at the woman, with an almost embarrassed smile. "Uh, hi Devi."

* * *

"This is weird." Willow muttered. She'd been looking through news reports from when she and Xander had been kids. "It's like the Hellmouth effect times a million."

"Well not exactly." Xander said. "People didn't quite ignore what was going on."

"But this article says that he was still at the restaurant when the police got there."

"Are we sure this guy isn't a demon or something?" Buffy asked. Even she, with all the carnage she'd seen, was getting a bit queasy at the descriptions of the things Johnny had done.

Giles emerged from the stacks with more books. "Fairly certain. There are very few Demons who-"

"They've got no need for a big ol' knife." Xander muttered, remembering the talent show of last year.

"Precisely." Giles agreed with a shudder. He remembered that particular incident quite well. Cordelia's singing. Brrrrrr. "Though granted it's not as unheard of as one might think. Xander is there anything else you might be able to remember?"

Xander sighed. He'd spent so much of his childhood trying to repress his memories of that time. Now to deliberately call them up was difficult. And painful. It wasn't even the terror of his past that bothered him. Well not entirely. It was his embarrassment about what he'd been like back then.

When had he gone from being the kid who was so terrified of everything that it nearly paralyzed him to being the guy who sought out a Vampire's lair to try to save the day?

Though maybe it wasn't that surprising after all. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't been completely without courage the first time he'd met Johnny.

**Sunnydale, Some years ago...**

Alexander didn't like to bring problems to his parents. They rarely appreciated it. But just now it seemed really important. "Mommy, I heard a noise."

"Mommy's ignoring you honey. Go bother your father, he's in his study." In later years Xander would never be sure if his mother had actually been that blunt. Or if maybe she'd been kidding.

In any case he turned, and timidly headed for his father's study. He was almost more scared to do that than he was of the noises he was hearing. "Come on Shmee, Daddy will help us." There was another crash from somewhere in the house, and he clutched his teddy bear tighter.

"Daddy?" he said, opening the door to the study slowly. "I'm scared, I heard noises."

His father had not wanted to be interrupted. He clenched his teeth against his frustration and grabbed his head. "Son, we just moved here. You're just not used to the sounds of our new house." He tried to keep himself from giving in to his dissatisfaction with his life, but it slipped out. "I'm busy right now, working. That's all I seem to do anymore. I have to work to keep you alive. To feed you. I haven't smiled since you were born. Go to sleep."

Alexander chose to ignore that. He knew his father was just tired. He didn't mean it. "But I can't! There aren't any curtains on my windows and I feel like things are watching me! Please daddy it's scary here. Shmee hears sounds!"

"Your presence tires me." his father snarled, starting to lose control. "Go to your room and stay quiet or the things will find you."

It might be a lost cause, but Alexander had to make them see the danger! "But Shmee-"

"Go, to sleep."

Finally the boy realized this was a useless exercise. "Yes Daddy." He was scared, but he was sad as well. Why wouldn't his daddy listen to him? "Come on Shmee. We'll hide under the covers and hope we fall asleep before we die."

He froze upon opening the door to his room however. The window was broken, and there was blood on the glass.

"Mommy."

There was another crash, and now he could tell where it was coming from. The bathroom! It was a bathroom monster! The worse kind. "The bathroom Shmee, there's something in the bathroom!"

His first instinct was to go to his parents and try to warn them. But he knew that they would not listen. They were in as much danger as he was. If not more so. Because they were not aware of the danger.

He squared his shoulders, and knew what he had to do. "Let's be brave Shmee. We have to protect mommy and daddy."

But then Shmee spoke to him. Shmee did that often. Alexander was sure the most toys did this, whether adults wanted to believe it or not. Shmee told him that his parents were not worthy of his protection. That were the roles reversed, they would not lift a finger to protect him. "Huh? No you're wrong Shmee. They're not bad people, they love me. They don't mean it when they tell me to get kidnapped.

He crept to the bathroom, and carefully opened the door.

"Where the fuck is the bactine!!" the occupant screamed. He suddenly realized he had company and turned to see the tiny, terrified boy before him.

Johnny however, did not realize that the boy was scared of him. Like many crazy people, he was innocent of many other people's perceptions. "Oh, hello." He gave what was meant to be a charming, but was in fact horrifying, smile. "My name is Johnny, but you can call me Nny for short. Who might you be?"

Alexander tried to answer, but his fear was so overwhelming that all he could manage was a tiny "Squee."

"Squee huh? Well okay. I don't mean to intrude Squee but where do you keep the bactine? Some of this blood is mine." He rummaged around in the medicine cabinet some more. "Wait, I found it. Yeah that's it."

He was covered in blood, and also cuts and scrapes, which he poured the bactine over liberally. "Damn! That one really put up a fight. Cut me up like a cat on crack. Nothing brings out the zest for life in a person like their impending death." He gave another of those smiles. "I can see by the looks of you that you understand."

Johnny rather liked children. Quiet ones at least, like this one. Why couldn't more kids, or even adults be like this? "Hey who's your friend there?" he asked, pointing at the teddy bear that Alexander had dropped in his fright.

"Um, that's Shmee."

Nny knelt and picked the bear up. "Well hello there Shmee! I'm Nny. So you're Squee's little friend eh? Well you certainly are a cute little bear-bear. Yes you are. Yes you are!"

Johnny's tone with Shmee began to dispel some of Alexander's fear. No other adult had ever even talked to Shmee, let alone been nice to him.

"Hmm? What's that Shmee? Uh huh. Yeah? Uh huh. Hmmm." Suddenly, Nny snapped. "Well fuck you bear! You speak lies! Liiiiies!"

Before Alexander's horrified eyes, Johnny slammed the bear against the wall. What had Shmee said?

"Stuffed with pure venom you vile lint infested bastard! How many more like you are there? How many more? You can't even imagine the things I've endured! And always at the hands of shit like you! You don't know the truth!"

In the coming weeks Shmee's warning to Johnny about his being used by a demon and that it still was not quite too late to turn back from his course would prove to be true. But it would not be until Johnny had finally left that he would realize he owed Squee and his teddy bear an apology. For now, he stabbed Shmee repeatedly in the belly before once again, coming to his senses.

"Oh...um..." He handed Alexander back his doll. "It's getting late, I should go. I'm so awake I need to be out. Come on, you can walk me out."

At this point Alexander only hoped to make it out of this with a relatively painless death.

"Hey," Johnny said, when the reached Alexander's room. "Sorry about the window, but I noticed it was locked. I don't suggest you ever lock it again. Well...later. And thanks for the disinfectant. It's been nice talking. But we'll have plenty of time for that. After all..."

He climbed out the window, and smiled at Alexander. The grin was the most terrifying yet, especially coupled with his next words. "We're neighbors now."

"Mommy!!" Alexander screamed, in desperate need of someone bigger than he to protect him. "Daddy!"

"I don't hear you honey!" his mother said.

"You ruined my life!" his father said.

To be continued...


End file.
